Did you see the featured project on Craftster this week out of strips of junk mail? Really gorgeous pictures, each one can be different with slight variations in the final step. Check it out! I'd link you to it but dial up... blah.

Notice that the bag of old neck ties is NOT on the chopping block during this crafty clean up. Not this round anyhow, I'm holding on to those beautiful (albeit nearly totally useless) scraps of silk for now...

Yes, *blush* we are sad and pathetic. As in, "hey, what did YOU do with your free time on Saturday? I was at the thrift store looking for useless things to upcycle and spending what little money I have on stuff nobody wants. So I can put it in a box and let it sit in my craft space for the next 2 years until I decide what to do with it".

Hey everybody, I'm getting together with my vegetarian kids group this week-end for eco-crafting. The thing is that all the parents are kind of looking to me to come up with projects for the kids. I thought they could make origami out of junk mail or I could start them on making magazine bowls. The little kids can do art and collages, but...does anyone have any other ideas for up-cycle projects that appeal to kids?? We're meeting for about 2 hours, so they have to be fairly quick and easy projects. I'd love any suggestions...

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"The U.S. is the only nation on Earth to pass from barbarism into decadence without once passing through an era of civilization."

It's a picture of a necklace made from Barbie's ta-tas. There are Barbie faces, etc. on there too, so yes, it sounds like you've seen the same one.

Don't feel too bad; I have a huge (and growing)! pile of thrift store clothes that I have bought for the fabric or the felting potential. I just added a big pile of silk neck ties to this pile for god-only-knows-what reason. The thrift store is my favorite source for fabric these days; I've found some beautiful things I can't wait to cut up.

Ah Pepper, I'm so wishing you weren't dealing with the dial-up thing these days. I just found a documentary "The World According to Monsanto" that I've linked on my FB page. You would love every awful, horrific moment of it.

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"The U.S. is the only nation on Earth to pass from barbarism into decadence without once passing through an era of civilization."

Oh, ugh to the cat hair. My friend has a necklace she made that includes some small felted balls of her kitty's sheddings, it's such a confusing piece. I mean, alluring and disgusting all at the same time. Like you want to touch those delicately soft little fluffy bits but it makes you shudder when you do kinda like that lamp shade made of old dreadlocks I saw once.

I am hopeless at sculpture though I think I could throw and hand build well if I gave it a go. The cat hair ball friend is also a potter, I learned a lot just hanging out with her while she was at school. She does really interesting work with sprigs and such, very innovative and unique. In fact, she is one of the top inspirational people I've ever met, she tries out so many things and they are all amazing. Yarn work, hot glass, decorating, she has a gorgeous house full of plants, a spectacular garden and is a CHEF to boot. Makes me feel like a putz sometimes, how awesome she is.

Ok, girl crush rave over... this summer I am going to tackle the huge bin of clothes waiting to be altered or built into something else. I swear I am really, actually, really going to do it this time. It's stuff I don't want to throw out or give away, things I think will be fabulously wearable when I finally get around to giving them the attention they deserve. Wish me luck though, I've successfully procrastinated this project for ages upon ages in favour of sock creatures and tshirt upcycles. Sigh. I did sell those 3 monkeys though, and left 2 more in a friend's shop. That felt nice, I'd do it again. Maybe once I get the studio back in shape. I had it organized but then it exploded, it's a craftastrophe in here. It's bad.

I can't open your link with my crap internet connection right now koffeewitch but it looks from the title like it's the barbie face necklaces from craftster, is it? Those were too cool.

I really want to learn to work with clay...I have no experience with anything but "kitchen clay". I've seen some amazing stuff made with Fimo; a lot of people are making tatoo style jewelry with it and I've seen lots of sweet little gnome houses.

I'm about ready to collect all the cat hair in my apartment from the shedding season and spin their fur into yarn. This idea becomes more and more tempting every spring.

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"The U.S. is the only nation on Earth to pass from barbarism into decadence without once passing through an era of civilization."

Since the semester is coming to an end, I'm thinking about summer crafting. I have ~90% of my clay supplies and all of my spinning crap here at the apartment, so I should be able to keep myself occupied for a bit. Not sure what I want to do with the clay. Canes, perhaps?

What's everyone making this spring/summer? I usually end up experimenting around this time of year and taking a break from my usual fiber/wool fetish. Wool and warm weather are just not a nice match. My latest has been:

*a Hello Kitty rug (latch hook)*Origami 3-D stars in lotsa colors (soon to be turned into garlands and beaded curtains and strung up around the house).*Origami butterflies and cranes (put to same purpose as stars)*Colorful bowls made from recycled magazines (tis the season for eco-crafts)*Cute robot magnets to amuse my robot-loving son*Appliqued baby onesies galore*Cute stuff via the aronzo/aronzi books*Cat toys*Several pairs of baby booties

The unfinished/pending list: Origami lanterns, sidewalk chalk, Japanese fish kite, a Totoro hat, a cute emergency sewing/mending kit (like the ones they sell in stores, but cute and hand-made) a bag and pouches for my herbal first aid kit, a crocheted baby doll top, a shawl, some funky hats, cute animal faced covers for my mp3 headphones and a matching pouch for the player, a monster laundry bag to help kids keep their dirty clothes off the floor.... and let's face it, the list never really ends...How about you guys??

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"The U.S. is the only nation on Earth to pass from barbarism into decadence without once passing through an era of civilization."

Well, let me put this into perspective for you. Most of the things that most people spend their hard-earned cash on are made in sweat shops by girls and women earning $2 a day. These items are made by the cheapest methods, using the cheapest materials possible by desperate illiterate 11 year old girls. These are the products that fill our homes and cover our bodies.

But YOU make things in a spirit of joy (pun intended) and you put your beautiful, whimsical, talented self into every thing that you make. AND what you make is well-made. You don't sit around and think to yourself...."hmmm, how do I make a product that will fall apart fast enough that people will have to keep buying more, but not so fast that I lose my customer loyalty?" No, you put your love, and care, and joy into every stitch and that certain je ne sais pas quoi that makes your creations so fabulous. Remember, I knew who "craftylittlemonkey" was long before I came to the Lounge! Your stuff is GREAT. Sure there are always amazing people out there who aren't selling their stuff, but YOUR stuff is more than good enough to sell. I would be thrilled to pay for something you had made. You go for it, girl!

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"The U.S. is the only nation on Earth to pass from barbarism into decadence without once passing through an era of civilization."

I don't know what my problem is except that I'm an artist (of sorts) and selling my work opens me up to I dunno know what... something. My things really have to be up to par and what if they aren't? There are WAY more talented people out there than me not selling their stuff.

Yes, love, why DO you feel guilty for getting paid for hours of careful, detailed work that can include many hidden costs for materials? You shouldn't. Then there is the fact that you will be even more painstakingly perfectionistic because you are making these for somebody else. You will doubtless spend gobs of extra time correcting "flaws" that you would let go if you were just making the monkeys for yourself alone.

Hey, what's that site where people post ads for things they want made for them along with a price range? Is it "alchemy"? Have you guys seen this? Ads run something like this: Looking for handknitted socks in colorful yarn; ideal price around $20.Then crafters can contact the poster and negotiate a work order and price. Anyone ever done this??

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"The U.S. is the only nation on Earth to pass from barbarism into decadence without once passing through an era of civilization."

On the upside, a friend has commisioned me to make 3, count 'em THREE sock monkeys. At 50$ a piece that pays the kids back the money I have owed to their education saving fund since last year *shame faced*.

Yay for crafty income! Why do I feel guilty taking money for something I love so much though? Ugh.

Yes, thanks pepper, for the link to mother nature network in general...I got absorbed into the side headlines immediately. Did you guys know about the fucking ISLAND of FUCKING TRASH that is twice the size of fucking Texas floating in the Pacific ocean?! It extends 30 feet under the water. An entire nation -sized island of trash. A fucking curse on all our careless, consumerist, wasteful selves for what we've done to this planet... and all at the expense of developing nations. We don't need 3 R's, we need dozens starting with Reduce, Re-use, Recycle, Repair, Replace and Respect.

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"The U.S. is the only nation on Earth to pass from barbarism into decadence without once passing through an era of civilization."

treehugger: I think your aunt sounds amazingly cool. Is your family Eastern European or did your aunt just love the look of pysansky?

http://www.cutoutandkeep.net/snippets/issue17 Have you guys seen "cut out and keep" yet?? It's by no means a new site, but I just discovered it and love it. It has lotsa lovely step-by-step tutorials to all kinds of fun stuff. The link takes you to the recent issue -- The Horror Issue- how fun is that?! I can't wait to turn Barbie Dolls into zombies and Dia de la Muerte dolls. Who sez Halloween is only for October! And don't be scared off by my penchant for weirdness, the site has lots of beautiful, traditional crafts from all over the world, too.

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"The U.S. is the only nation on Earth to pass from barbarism into decadence without once passing through an era of civilization."

koffee, she did them freehand but I do think she may have had one of those stands. It's been thirty years, so I don't remember for sure, but she would divide the egg surface into even sections, and sketch a pattern to fit in them, sometimes it was flowers, sometimes it was geometric shapes, leaves, etc. Then she'd use that as a basis and just fill it in with colors that struck her fancy.

Treehugger: Did your aunt make her designs free hand (yikes!) or have any templates? Did she have a little stand that rotated the egg to keep her lines straight and even? I saw a pysansky egg stand like that in an antique store once and wish I had picked it up but I've never seen anyone use such a thing in any of the instructions I've seen. The results, when made well, are gorgeous beyond words and I have a special love for eastern european art...I just have little faith in my own ability to make the damn things turn out well.

Persi: You could always cut out funky shapes and applique them to t-shirts, jeans, etc. It would make a nice rain coat for a small dog, too.

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"The U.S. is the only nation on Earth to pass from barbarism into decadence without once passing through an era of civilization."